CAIRO: Medhat Hassanein, Egypt’s former finance minister, was recently appointed as a member on the World Bank’s Joint Committee on the Remuneration of Executive Directors (JCR).
Hassanein, who is currently a finance professor at the American University in Cairo, was chosen out of five candidates and will be representing the Middle East and North Africa region, a first for the JCR.
Hassanein’s work will entail reviewing background material and information concerning the roles of the executive directors from the two institutions, their salaries and rewards.
Founded 17 years ago, the JCR evaluates the performance of executive directors of both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and then sets the appropriate salaries for the executive directors of each body.
In an interview with Daily News Egypt, Hassanein said, “The committee’s work as stated in its bylaws includes reviewing the tasks and scope of work of the executive directors of IMF and World Bank and considering what achievements have been realized in the year.
Then the committee looks at “remuneration packages of the president of the World Bank, director of the IMF and their comparators all over the world.
The “comparators, according to Hassanein, are members of other regional and international organizations such as the executive board of directors in the UN, the Asian Bank or the Arab Fund. Tasks are compared to ensure that there is no discrepancy in what is assigned to executive board members of other entities.
The remuneration process is carried out by the three members of the JCR, including the chairman and two interchangeable and overlapping members, said Hassanein. “I was selected this year for two years and I’m overlapping with an ex-officio of last year and I will overlap with someone who will be selected next year. This is [done] for the sustainability and continuity of the committee’s scope of work.
He served as Egypt’s finance minister from 1999 to 2004. Hassanein graduated from Cairo University and holds an MBA from the University of New York and a PHD from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
His previous tenure as finance minister and a stint as a governor of the World Bank qualified Hassanein for this position.
This is the first time the MENA region is represented on the committee.
“Five previous governors of the World Bank or IMF are prequalified from the chosen region to serve on the committee, each representing their own country, explained Hassanein.
The selection committee is composed of the president of the World Bank, the president of IMF and the chairman of the board of governors, he added.
The criteria for choosing the right candidate are mostly related to their previous “experience, exposure, academic or practical life, professionalism, achievements as well as their reputation, Hassanein said.
Hassanein is also the current chairman of the board of trustees at the Citadel Capital Financial Service Center (CCFC).
CCFC, which is a partnership between AUC and investment bank Citadel Capital, trains AUC students in the field of finance.
“It’s an educational center exposing students to real life, real financial centers, how to get information directly from the stock exchange, how to understand the movement in the [stocks] and how to value and trade shares, Hassanein explained.
This way, when students join “investment banks, commercial banks or multinational companies, they are well equipped with the tools and instruments to deal with the current money market and capital market, he added.
